Switzerland doesn’t produce many musical acts compared to other European countries, but the ones that do emerge are always of the highest quality. Whether it’s the arty metal of Celtic Frost and Coroner, the witty pop of Yello, the clattery punk of LiLiPUT, or the airtight funk grooves of post-jazz ensemble Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin, Swiss passports are a virtual guarantee that the music will be smart, engaging, and highly enjoyable.The Great Harry Hillman is a Swiss post-jazz quartetcomposed of Nils Fischer on reeds; David Koch on guitar and effects; Samuel Huwyler on bass; Dominik Mahnig on drumsfrom Lucerne, a lakeside city in the country’s center. About the name: Harry Hillman was an American hurdler who received three gold medals at the 1904 Summer Olympics, memorable as the first Olympics held outside Europe, in St. Louis. The Great Harry Hillman, the band, formed in 2009 - 105 years after Hillman’s victory, a landmark noted by the band - and in 2015 won the 2015 ZKB Jazz Prize. And yes, you’re correct to assume that a European jazz band named in tribute to American athlete Harry Hillman is not your ‘normal’ jazz band adhering to staid standards. Since forming, this band of energetic Millennial musical iconoclasts have played nearly a hundred concerts, performing at jazz festivals and touring extensively across Northern Europe. They’ve recorded two previous albums, 2013’s self-released Livingston and 2015’s Veer Off Course, released by the German label Klaeng records. Now they’ve joined the Cuneiform Records roster for their third release, Tilt.The Great Harry Hillman’s music combines jazz, rock, and improv into a subdued, layered, yet thrilling sound that will appeal to fans of bands like Radian or Tortoise, as well as modern jazz artists like Mary Halvorson and Nik Bartsch’s Ronin. Mahnig’s drumming is light but emphatic, his snare ticking like a fine watch as he sets up shifting rhythms that clatter and bounce. Koch’s guitar work is often as much about atmosphere as riffs, though he can get loud at times; at the climax of “354°,” his guitar is a Sonic Youth-like clang, as Fischer erupts into long screams. Huwyler’s bass is almost dubby at times, maintaining a subtle but powerful presence that gives even the group’s most abstract pieces (“Agnes fliegt”) a solid core. And while Fischer is often playing the most overtly melodic role, he’s just as happy to step into the background and simply comment on the others’ interactions.The Great Harry Hillman thinks of itself as a collective, with nobody dominating the creative process and everyone making their voice heard. “We have music from all four bandmembers on the album,” say the musicians, who speak as one. “Everyone brings tunes, fragments, et cetera, and we finalize every song together. Everything is a collective decision at the end.” This philosophy has helped them to create a sound like no one else, one that has gradually mutated over time while retaining its essence. “Although we all have different backgrounds and work in different genres, it is very important that we are always open to any kind of influences from each of us.”

Their open-mindedness and exploratory spirit extends beyond the music to every aspect of their existence as a band. Their live performances have energy and a sense of fun that keeps the complexity of the compositions and interplay from feeling dry or academic. And the same goofy exuberance can be seen in their band photoswhich cleverly continue allusions to sportsand in their wildly creative YouTube videos. The 360* video that they created to accompany Tilt is an artistic and technical tour-de-force that one viewer compared to a Danny Elfman movie. The Great Harry Hillman know that while music is an art, fueled by internal creative fires, they also know that music, like sports, is also entertainment, and like sports requires skill, practice, determination and an enjoyable, winning performance to succeed.The songs come wrapped in obscure titles like “The New Fragrance,” “How to Dice an Onion,” and “Moustache,” and those are just the ones in English. While they flow seamlessly together, each piece has its own identity. “We wanted every song to have it's own strong mood,” they say. “It was not the idea to feature extended solos, but to feature a strong sound as a band.”The album also has a strong live feel; while the sounds are electronically manipulated at times, this is music made by four men in a room. This is made most obvious on “How to Dice an Onion,” which ends with laughter and studio dialogue. “We thought a lot about how we could put the energy and vibe we create live into a recording, and it turned out very well,” say the band.

Indeed. Tilt is The Great Harry Hillman’s best work to date: a quiet but powerful album by four thoughtful musicians who are more than capable of rocking out when they feel like it, but would more often than not rather wrap the listener in delicately constructed sonic webs of indefinable beauty. There are no gold medals in music (unless gold records count), but The Great Harry Hillman deserve a spot on the artistic podium for sure.

is a saxophone and bass clarinet player with a taste for low frequencies. He likes playing different styles of jazz. Born in 1988 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, he took saxophone lessons with Andreas Krennerich at Musikschule Germersheim. In 2008 he moved to Lucerne for his jazz studies, where he studied under Urs Leimgruber, Reto Suhner and Frank Möbus, who deeply influenced his musical personality. In July 2013, he received his Master of Performance degree from Lucerne School of Music and in February 2015, his Master of Pedagogy. His working band is The Great Harry Hillman (w. David Koch  Guitar; Samuel Huwyler  Bass and Dominik Mahnig  Drums), which has been playing tours throughout Europe since 2009. In spring 2015, the group won the ZKB  Jazzpreis (Moods). Nils Fischer is also a sideman with numerous groups, including Laurent Méteau’s Metabolism, Marena Whitcher’s Shady Midnight Orchestra, Blaer, and Raphael Jost and Lots of Horns, and others.

DAVID KOCH

was born in 1988 in Sursee, Switzerland. He has always lived out his musical interests in intensive stages. Growing up the son of a classical flautist, he was surrounded by classical music during his childhood. Between the ages of 10 and 20, he played the flute on the road for the Irish folk and klezmer group Planxty Irwin. During this time he began to play the guitar. Starting with klezmer, he discovered and was inspired by the work of John Zorn and the music of the New York downtown avant-garde. This led to his jazz training at the Lucerne School of Music, where he was hugely influenced by Kurt Rosenwinkel, Gerry Hemingway and especially, Frank Möbus, with whom he completed his master’s training. Committed to the indie rock band Book On Shelves, he began to explore and appreciate the sound aesthetics and possibilities of pop music. In addition to his work as a guitarist, Koch is also a sound engineer and DIY researcher who tackles all of his projects with intensity and passion. He has a whole range of effects equipment, which he modified or built himself to ensure that he has all of the sound options he needs, even in live situations. Koch is a member of The Great Harry Hillman and has launched his latest project, the duo VSITOR, alongside Lea Fries.

SAMUEL HUWYLER

uses his creativity as a source for his work in both music and graphics. Born in 1988 in Endingen, Switzerland as the son of a jazz drummer, music surrounded him permanently. Musical instruments and drawing utensils evoked his passion to implement and present his ideas in his early years. After 4 years of lessons in classical guitar he discovered the electric guitar and quickly founded his first rock band, TRD, which is still active. Fascinated by string instruments, he changed to electric bass at 16; this was the crucial point for his later studies at Hochschule Luzern. Wolfgang Zwiauer, Uli Heinzler and Heiri Känzig influenced his career as a bass player. In 2013 he received his Master of Arts  Major Performance Jazz. The Aargauer Kuratorium awarded him with a grant in 2015. Currently Huwyler tours with his working band The Great Harry Hillman (ZKB Jazzprice 2015), as well as with Laurent Méteau’s Metabolism and other European projects.

DOMINIK MAHNIG

was born into a musical family in Willisau, Switzerland in 1989. He has been fascinated by drums since birth and is a recurring winner of the Swiss Drummer Competition. His first contact with jazz was a solo concert by Cecil Taylor. Taylor‘s intuitive and energetic playing left its mark on the young drummer, as did subsequent concerts by other artists at the Willisau Jazzfestival. After receiving his Bachelor degree in Lucerne, he moved to Cologne for his Master Studies. In Cologne, his groovy and powerful playing was expanded by this German hotspot’s sensitive musical style, which expanded his music with an important versatility. He studied with Gerry Hemingway, Frank Gratkowski, Jonas Burgwinkel and many more. In addition to The Great Harry Hillman, Mahnig plays with the Zooom Trio, Die Fichten, and Tamara Lukasheva Quartett. He has performed with Mark Dresser, Simon Nabatov, Robert Landfermann, Matthias Schubert and numerous other artists. In 2013, Mahnig was awarded Germany’s Wilhelm-Fabry price Hilden for a strong creative statement.

The Claudia QuintetFormed by composer / drummer / arranger John Hollenbeck in 1997, the Claudia Quintet explores the edge without alienating the mainstream, proving that genre-defying music can be for everyone. Over the past decade, the group has released CDs that are critically acclaimed world wide and whose appeal extends well beyond, as well as including traditional jazz audiences. Over the course of 20 years and 8 albums, the band has forged an astounding chemistry and become expert at juggling mind-boggling dexterity with inviting emotion and spirit.“The Claudia Quintet…turns out music of clockwork intricacy and crisp premeditation. … Jazz and new music and post-rock…have been steadily encroaching on one another’s turf for a while… The overlap has a lot to do with textural dynamics, which is what the Claudia Quintet has always been about. ... and groove, on a cellular level."- Nate Chinen, The New York Times

Acclaimed Drummer-Composer John Hollenbeck Pens Rich, Complex Tunes for an Era of Short Attention Spans on The Claudia Quintet's 8th album

– Super Petite –

a Potent Package that Condenses Virtuoso Playing and a Wealth of Ideas into Ten Compact Songs

Short doesn’t necessarily mean simple. Drummer-composer John Hollenbeck acrobatically explores the dichotomy between brevity and complexity on Super Petite, the eighth release by the critically acclaimed, proudly eccentric Claudia Quintet. The oxymoronic title of the band’s newest album on Cuneiform Records captures the essence of its ten new compositions, which pack all of the wit and virtuosity that listeners have come to expect from the Claudia Quintet into the time frame of radio-friendly pop songs.As always, Hollenbeck’s uncategorizable music – which bridges the worlds of modern jazz and new music in surprising and inventive ways - is realized by Claudia’s longstanding line-up: clarinetist/tenor saxophonist Chris Speed, vibraphonist Matt Moran, bassist Drew Gress, and accordionist Red Wierenga. Over the course of 19 years and 8 albums, the band has forged an astounding chemistry and become expert at juggling mind-boggling dexterity with inviting emotion and spirit.Like the band’s name, the title Super Petite originated as an affectionate nickname for one of the band’s fans. “I thought that was a funny juxtaposition,” Hollenbeck recalls, “but it also became a good frame for the album because the tunes are short but can also be grand in a way - just not in length.”The concept was both a personal challenge for Hollenbeck as a composer always dealing with a wealth of ideas, but also a reaction to a tendency in modern music toward the epic. “I’m feeling things in the opposite direction,” the composer explains. “When tunes are longer, there tend to be moments when not a whole lot is happening. If you have a really short tune, the whole thing has to be compelling.”Nowhere is that principle better exemplified than in “Pure Poem,” which clocks in at under two minutes but is the most difficult piece the quintet has ever recorded. It was inspired by “Pure Poem 1007-1103” by Japanese poet Shigeru Matsui, which consists solely of sequences of Roman numerals and was used by controversial poet Kenneth Goldsmith to illustrate his theory of “Uncreative Writing.”Hollenbeck draws inspiration from a number of diverse sources throughout Super Petite, including two unrecognizable interpretations of classic jazz – which, in its earliest years, demanded short songs due to the limitations of the day’s recording media. The mesmerizing “Nightbreak,” which opens the album, is built upon a slowed-down translation of Charlie Parker’s famous break in “Night of Tunisia,” while “Philly” transforms an infamous Philly Joe Jones lick into an exercise in bebop deconstruction.Two variations on the same theme, “JFK Beagle” and “Newark Beagle”, were sparked by the contraband-sniffing dogs that patrol the international baggage claim area of airports. They are the living embodiment of Super Petite – utterly adorable but all business. “My problem is I want to pet the beagles but they’re so focused on that one thing,” Hollenbeck laments. “That piece began as a portrait, a combination of being really cute but staying focused. I don't know exactly what that would sound like musically, but that’s the challenge. In the end it doesn’t really matter to me if it happens or not, because it still leads me into a certain world.” In this case, the idea of international travel inspired Hollenbeck to use his passport number as a series of pitches that formed the basis for the pieces.Similarly, “If You Seek a Fox” began life as a dig at the composer’s least favorite 24-hour cable news network, then morphed into an aural description of the eponymous animal. “A-List” began with an even more fantastical scenario, imagining the Claudia Quintet walking the red carpet. (“Think Entourage meets the Geek Squad,” as Hollenbeck wryly puts it in his liner notes.) If the tune’s urgent [press release continued on verso] pulse is unlikely to attract the paparazzi, it’s nonetheless a compelling mood piece that Hollenbeck insists “feels almost like a Led Zeppelin tune in our heads.”“Peterborough” was written in the titular New Hampshire town, where Hollenbeck spent six idyllic weeks in the fall of 2014 as a resident artist at the famed MacDowell Colony. It was there that Aaron Copland composed his Pulitzer-winning “Appalachian Spring,” which inspired the hint of Coplandesque American optimism in Hollenbeck’s combination of clarinet and vibes. The residency also provided the opportunity to explore the work of master Senegalese drummer/composer Doudou N’Diaye Rose, whose “Rose Rhythm” forms the basis for Hollenbeck’s “Rose-Colored Rhythm.”Hollenbeck describes the MacDowell Colony as “a beautiful space where you can do whatever you want all day and no one bothers you. You can work hard all day on something, but you can also get out and ride a bike or run if you want. Then in the evening you see all these other people from different disciplines who have been doing the same thing as you, talk about what they’re doing, go to bed and do it all again the next day.”The album concludes with “Mangolds,” a mood piece built from a slow, elongated melody line named for Hollenbeck’s favorite vegetarian restaurant in Graz, Austria, where he worked with the renowned Jazz Bigband Graz on his 2006 release Joys and Desires.

The Claudia Quintet Albums on Cuneiform Records

"The Claudia Quintet...is one of the most exciting groups in contemporary jazz. ...Each of the discs comes at you with the force of a manifesto: this band knows exactly what it is about, and the compositions charge forward with inevitability. ... the band now sounds so thoroughly integrated and seamless that you'd think it was a tenor-trumpet quintet or a 16-piece big band. ...The Claudia Quintet, inimitable, deserves to inspire."

Based in metro Washington [Silver Spring, MD] since its founding in 1984, Cuneiform Records releases music by some of the best musicians and composers from around the globe and is widely recognized as an international force in the world of avant-garde and truly progressive, cutting-edge music. The independent label has released over 450 albums to date, and it has focused on the cutting edge of genres ranging from jazz and electronic music to rock and post-classical musics.

Harry penned several originals and arrangements, and we also include a repertory number, “Raincheck,” with a nod to Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington. Harry is a superb musician who contributed marvelous performances to this recording.

The University of Central Florida’s Flying Horse Big Band welcomed tenor saxophonist and composer Harry Allen for this eighth album from Flying Horse Records. Harry penned several originals and arrangements, and we also include a repertory number, “Raincheck,” with a nod to Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington. Harry is a superb musician who contributed marvelous performances to this recording. There are numerous arrangements written for the band, as well as two originals, “B.M.O.C.” and “The New Creole Love Call.” Michael Philip Mossman’s thrilling “Partido Blue” adds a Brazilian flair.The Flying Horse Big Band swings with authority and includes a bounty of wonderful soloists: saxophonists Saul Dautch, Andy Garcia and Gabe Wallace, guitarist Ryan Waszmer, trumpet players Alex Lewis and Josh Toler, pianist Mudel Honoré and upcoming trombonists Christian Herrera and Lentzy Jean-LouisSaxophonist Jeff Rupert is a YAMAHA performing artist. His credits include recordings and tours with: Diane Schuur, Mel Tormé, Kevin Mahogany, Ernestine Anderson, and Benny Carter’s Grammy winning Harlem Renaissance. Jeff Rupert toured for fifteen years with Sam Rivers; four albums ensued, and from 1997- 2002 he toured and recorded with Maynard Ferguson. Jeff Rupert’s six recordings as a leader all charted on Jazz Week. Do That Again! was #39 out of the top 100 jazz albums of 2014, and En Plein Air: The Jazz Professors play Monet charted on Jazz Week to #29. Performance venues include: the Blue Note, Birdland, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, the Tokyo Forum, the National concert hall of Taipei, Taiwan, and jazz festivals in Europe, Israel, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. As a composer and arranger, Rupert has written for: Bob Berg, James Moody, Maynard Ferguson, Kenny Drew jr, Kevin Mahogany and Judy Carmichael. Rupert has produced four big band albums for the Flying Horse Big Band, all featuring original compositions and arrangements. Jeff Rupert is Pegasus Distinguished Professor, Trustee Endowed Chair, and Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Central Florida (UCF), and founder of Flying Horse Records.

The University of Central Florida’s Flying Horse Big Band welcomed tenor saxophonist and composer Harry Allen for this eighth album from Flying Horse Records. Harry penned several originals and arrangements, and we also include a repertory number, “Raincheck,” with a nod to Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington. Harry is a superb musician who contributed marvelous performances to this recording. There are numerous arrangements written for the band, as well as two originals, “B.M.O.C.” and “The New Creole Love Call.” Michael Philip Mossman’s thrilling “Partido Blue” adds a Brazilian flair.The Flying Horse Big Band swings with authority and includes a bounty of wonderful soloists: saxophonists Saul Dautch, Andy Garcia and Gabe Wallace, guitarist Ryan Waszmer, trumpet players Alex Lewis and Josh Toler, pianist Mudel Honoré and upcoming trombonists Christian Herrera and Lentzy Jean-Louis.